carrier." Slater was named first-team All-Big Ten for the third straight year in 1921. He was also named an All-American for the second time, earning first team All-American honors in 1921 from multiple selectors. Duke Slater was just the third black player to earn All-American honors in two different seasons, following William Henry Lewis and Bobby Marshall. Slater also earned three varsity letters for the Hawkeye track team, participating in field events. Slater placed third in the hammer throw and fourth in the discus throw while helping Iowa to a third-place finish at the inaugural 1921 NCAA Track and Field Championships. Professional career Rock Island Independents (1922-1926) Duke Slater joined the NFL’s Rock Island Independents in 1922, becoming the first black lineman in NFL history. He made his NFL debut on October 1, 1922, helping the Independents to a 19-14 victory over the Green Bay Packers by swatting down a pass from Packers quarterback Curly Lambeau on Green Bay’s final drive of the game. After Rock Island completed their 1922 season schedule, Slater joined Fritz Pollard and Paul Robeson on the Milwaukee Badgers for two games at the end of the 1922 season. In 1923, he returned to Rock Island and played his next four seasons – five in all – with the Independents. Bolstered by an aging Jim Thorpe, the 1924 Independents surged to the top of the NFL standings a month into the season. The Independents suffered their first loss of the year when the previously-winless Kansas City Blues upset them, 23-7. Slater was held out of the game because the NFL had a “gentlemen’s agreement” prohibiting black players from participating in games held in Missouri; it was the only contest Slater missed in his ten-year NFL career. Three weeks later, the Blues and Independents met again in Rock Island. Because the game was held in Illinois, Slater was free to play, and with Slater in the lineup, the Independents won the rematch in a shutout, 17-0. But the earlier loss to Kansas City proved costly when Rock Island finished the year with two defeats, one more than the NFL champion Cleveland Bulldogs. In 1926, the Rock Island Independents left the NFL to play in the rival American Football League (AFL). Slater played one season with Rock Island in the AFL before the league’s dissolution. Duke Slater was a three-time all-NFL selection with Rock Island from 1923-1925. He